A tip from a newbie to this forum

This may be common knowledge to this site but I'm not about to start searching to see just how prevalent it is so if I'm repeating info that everyone here already knows, I apologize.

For those who are relying on diet alone to lose weight, you're making life more difficult than necessary.  Losing weight thru diet alone is the equivalent of rowing a boat to Hawaii instead of hopping in a jet! In this analogy, that jet is weight training.  Our bodies need muscle! Muscle is a highly metabolically active tissue that requires lots of calories AND stimulation (exercise) just to maintain it, not to mention for hypertrophy.Yes, cutting calories will reduce fat stores but it will also catabolize your muscles.

Look at weight training as investing in a healthy mutual fund. In a growing mutual fund, you invest your money and that investment grows through compounding interest while you sit back and count the money. When you pack on muscle, your metabolism increases and you burn more calories, even while you sleep.

When I talk about weight training I don't mean doing shoulder lateral raises with 3lb dumbbells; i'm talking about whole body movements such as squats, lunges pullups, etc. These exercises require your body to utilize the largest muscles in your body - large muscles require lots of energy (calories) hence more calories burned.

If you continue to rely on diet alone you're going to be fighting a tough battle for the rest of your lives. Just make sure you get protein with every meal, mostly avoid those high glycemic index carbs and don't skip breakfast.

I have watched this forum evolve from a nest of cardio-bunnies to a huge population of weight lifters. At first no one wanted to believe us but over time, ladies have realized that the key to success is over in the free weight section of the gym, not spending two hours in the rows of cardio machines

I think most of us are smarter than you give us credit for.  I'm not going to say anything further because I don't want to introduce myself as being rude.  Good Luck here on CC.  BTW, if you know so much, why are you here?

Original Post by mommakitty:

I think most of us are smarter than you give us credit for.  I'm not going to say anything further because I don't want to introduce myself as being rude.  Good Luck here on CC.  BTW, if you know so much, why are you here?

 People who have been on here for awhile have heard about the benefits of strength training, but those who are just getting started likely do not.

I think this is a another great post highlighting the importance of muscle!

Once I added strength training to my regimen of cardio and calorie counting, I noticed that my rate of weight loss began to slow down.  Turns out this is common--especially during the first few weeks of strength training. Muscles retain water as they begin to increase mass, and muscle is denser than fat.

And while adding muscle mass is beneficial to weight loss, as was explined above and elsewhere, it was discouraging to see that my rate of weight loss began to taper off.

When I began my weight loss program, I didn't really define my goal specifically enough. I just said I wanted to lose "x" pounds. What I shoud have said is that I wanted to lose "x" pounds of fat.

What I ended up doing was buying one of those measuring tapes that tailors use, and I started to take measurements of myself. With these measurements, I can do a rough calculation of my body fat percentage*.

Since I started measuring, if the scale tells me that I'm not losing weight as quickly as I had planned (or as quickly as my calorie deficit would predict), I can check out my body fat %.

There's been no surprises- with strength training, I'm cutting my fat and building muscle tissue. My body composition is becoming--slowly--leaner. And if I hadn't started to calculate my body fat % I probably would have continued to get discouraged, completely unaware of the real progress I was making.

*There are many formulas for roughly calculating your body fat percentage based on tape measurements of your body. Google will help you find them. You can pick one that looks good.  I use the method used by the US Navy since it's simple. I take measurements everyday, in order to reduce the effect of measurement errors. Day-to-day I don't see much change, fyi. I log my measurements into an excel spreadsheet that has the Navy formula built in. Keep in mind that this is not a precision method. But I find that even if it's not precise, it's better than having no idea at all. Plus it's dead easy.

Original Post by mommakitty:

I think most of us are smarter than you give us credit for.  I'm not going to say anything further because I don't want to introduce myself as being rude.  Good Luck here on CC.  BTW, if you know so much, why are you here?

 I responded to someone claiming to be a personal trainer who was saying the best way to lose fat was lots of cardio. I think there are a lot more people who need to be properly educated on this site and I'm glad this was posted.

I mean a personal trainer. Someone who gets PAID to know fitness inside and out doesn't know step #1 of fat loss.